


Burnt Scales, Blackened Feathers

by FlorarenaKitasatina



Category: Breath of Fire II
Genre: Adventure, Dark, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 11:47:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7843723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlorarenaKitasatina/pseuds/FlorarenaKitasatina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nina Wyndia finds herself plagued by dreams that are terrible enough to send her into a flapping frenzy. Ryu Bateson receives a request to investigate Mt. Fubi from the dragon god Landon, though he must have one—only one—person accompanying him. The two find themselves with little to work with, but both initially assume that Deathevan has a few leftover priests that need to be addressed.</p><p>Both soon realize that the truth is much, much worse than they could have imagined. Would it take just two to handle and rectify the issue, or would they be overwhelmed by what lies ahead? That, they know not—especially with very little tidbits of information and nothing else to work with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burnt Scales, Blackened Feathers

**Author's Note:**

> Contains spoilers for those who haven't beaten Breath of Fire II. Caution is advised.

A town that was perched on an uneven hill basked in the moonlight’s glow, overshadowing a few buildings that rested just at the foot of said hill. One of the town’s houses served as a makeshift apartment of sorts, with a second floor that had many doors along the hall which led to small rooms. In one of these rooms, barely touched by the silvery light that came through the window, a blond-haired woman in a dark blue dress laid in a small bed, large black appendages twitching as she dozed.

The woman tossed about, eyes scrunched as if she had a bout of pain. She tossed again, the appendages stretching and flapping as she violently jerked about in bed. Her vehement struggle dragged on for a few moments before she tumbled out of bed and landed face-first on the floor with all the grace of a jar knocked off a pedestal. Moving her arms carefully, she forced herself into a kneeling position and wearily rubbed her eyes with a hand, the black appendages folding shut behind her back as she groaned in half-asleep annoyance.

“Damnit,” she cursed, “the dream world’s bizarre machinations seem to bear a disdain for me as of late…” The woman stood up and stretched, and then glanced out the window before frowning. “Lovely, it’s still night,” she murmured in mock joy. Scanning the small room and finding little more than the bed, a nightstand, and a chair, she crept towards the door and had just been about to touch the knob when she froze.

Footsteps graced her ears, coming from outside the door.

She winced for a moment. “Who could be up at this hour?” she whispered to no one in particular. The woman paused to listen, almost forcing herself to keep her extra limbs still as stones. She was expecting whoever it was to either head to a room and sleep, or go back downstairs.

What she did not expect, though, was for someone to knock on the very door she stood dangerously close behind. She jumped and simultaneously flung open the door, landing a few feet away on her posterior with the skill of a flying duck shot with an arrow. The woman awkwardly glanced up towards the open doorframe, and found a man sporting a white tunic and red pants with blue hair tied into a low ponytail. He had with him a sheathed sword slung over his shoulder, and he was looking at her with concern dotting eyes of green.

“Um, hello, Ryu,” she mumbled, partly in shock and partly in worry. The man merely nodded and walked into the room, handing the woman a hand once he was in front of her form. She gently clasped his hand with one of her own, and he effortlessly pulled her up onto her feet.

“You look like you fought a chicken coop and lost, Nina,” Ryu chastised with a frown, eyes flashing in worry. “Did someone try sneaking into your room again?”

“Nay,” Nina replied as she shook her head. “If Sten had broken into my room again, I’d have singed his fur and everyone else would be awake at this time of night.”

“Fair point,” Ryu agreed, and he nodded. “But, what are you doing up this late?”

“I had a walk in the dream world, and it was most unpleasant,” the woman sighed, her extra limbs twitching as if shudders ran through their frames.

“Your wings are shaking. Is that good or bad?” the man mused, lifting a finger to gesture to the appendages attached to the woman’s backside.

“Bad, considering what I dreamt about,” Nina confessed, unable to suppress the shuddering of her wings.

“I’m gonna shoot in the dark and assume that the kingdom of Wyndia found out your mother’s lie and wants your head on a pike?” Ryu questioned in one breath, and the woman gave him a hard look.

“That, and my headless body strung up by the black wings,” she answered bluntly. “Did you pray to Ladon, as you do every night? From the way your eyes flicker, you seem troubled.”

The man simply nodded. “I did, and he told me to take someone with me to Mt. Fubi,” he said.

Nina quirked a curious brow. “Beg your pardon?”

“Exactly,” Ryu sighed with another nod. “And he said I could only take one person with me—nothing more, and nothing less. Would you like to come with?” he asked.

“But what about the others; won’t they—” Nina was hushed before she could finish as the man’s finger hovered in front of her lips.

“They’ll be fine; it’s not like they won’t understand that we simply went out of town,” the man began in a gentle tone of voice, “and besides, they’re resting up before they go around denouncing St. Eva like no tomorrow. I reckon that Ladon’s telling me to go to Mt. Fubi because he may have caught something fishy going on in that area.”

Nina waited until the finger shushing her left her lips before nodding in understanding. “Should I call Mina, then, to take us to Mt. Fubi?” she asked.

“Not yet,” Ryu answered, shaking his head. When the black-winged woman continued to look at him expectantly, he sighed, “We’re gonna have to travel by foot.”

“Should we pack anything? Or no?” the woman asked with a frown, wings shifting for a bit as the words left her mouth.

“We shouldn’t need to,” Ryu answered and shrugged. He started walking out of the room, going down the hall, though he paused as Nina started sauntering behind him. The two slipped down a few flights of stairs and left out the front door, and they left town without exchanging words. They didn't speak when they crept through a brief plain, nor when they ambled through a cavern. In fact, they didn't speak for some time, even as they left the other side of the cave to find a woodland waiting beyond.

~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~

The dark forest was silent, save for the soft crackles of a campfire. A tent had been set up, and Nina sat on a log, gazing longingly at the visible patch of sky that wasn’t blotted out by innumerable branches and leaves. Her wings snapped open and remained flared for a moment before grudgingly closing, as if betraying whatever thoughts she may have held at the time. The night sky—well, what she could see of it—had been a dull starless one, and heavily marred by thick black clouds. It was like staring at a big black blemish, and she frowned slightly.

Ryu sat next to the woman and glanced at her, noticing a vacant gaze on her visage, and the way her emerald green eyes lacked a vibrant sheen. “What if they see me flying up there?” she asked to no one in particular. If she had noticed that her companion was sitting on the same log she had claimed, then she certainly didn’t act like it.

“What if who sees you flying?” the man found himself musing, a perplexed frown on his face. “I mean, it’s not like a giant fly is gonna snatch you up and use you for spider bait the moment you take off.”

“I meant my people, Ryu,” the woman answered, shaking her head solemnly, and with a gait of sadness in her tone. “What if the nightmare came true already? We’re going to have to pass Wyndia on the way to Mt. Fubi; even if we called Mina, they’d very likely see us a good distance away.”

The man winced as if the woman just straight-up kicked him in the nuts. “Damn. You think not everyone in Wyndia would take the news well?” he sighed.

“The guards and my parents did, but I am not so sure about the nobles or even the common folk,” Nina muttered and shook her head again. “The former could rally the commoners; all they’d need to do is bribe them silly and be given a call to action.”

“Well, with Deathevan’s demons in line, and his faux religion crumbling, I doubt that could happen,” Ryu scoffed, his frown firm.

“But the Wyndians were never converted; you were there when father told that priest the most polite ‘no’ I have heard yet,” the winged woman retorted. “And if, theoretically, one of Deathevan’s priests started running around the countryside parroting ‘the princess with the black wings is still alive,’ I doubt they’d bat an eye until he presented proof. But then again, the priest could take a black feather from any monster and say it is my own, and the nobles and commoners could very well buy his claim.”

Ryu patted Nina on the shoulder gently, being careful to avoid accidentally touching one of her wings. “You’re getting yourself worked up. A nice dinner on the campfire and a good rest sound good to you?”

For the first time, Nina glanced at him, and her eyes lit up with mirth as a smile broke out on her face. “You’re right, Ryu. I’m just getting myself worked up over trivial things,” she conceded with a nod. She stood up and flared her wings once more, but only for a moment. “What should we eat tonight?”

"I think deer sounds good," Ryu replied, now smiling.

Nina donned a thoughtful look. "Maybe we should skip dinner tonight if deer's on the menu," she suggested.

Ryu's brow rose instantly, and his smile fell. "Why?" he asked tersely.

"With a sky that dark," Nina began, raising a hand to gesture to the sky, "I think it would be wise to wait until morning to hunt. We can only make so many fires and torches, and that's withholding burning the forest to ash. And it's night—I don't think we'd have much luck finding a deer."

Ryu sighed as his stomach gurgled, but he chose to not argue with Nina's point. "So, we get breakfast at the nearest town, or what?"

"That would be the best plan of action. That, and we might come across another statue of Landon," Nina replied with a nod.

~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~

The two crept into the tent to sleep hungry that night, and at first they slept without interruption. However, the winged woman entered the dream world after an indeterminate amount of time had passed, and she shifted to stand up with an indignant grunt. She glanced around, finding herself standing in a forest filled with so much fog she could not see even the closest of trees.

“Back in the dreamscape,” she mumbled. Her wings shifted as a breeze caressed her cheek, feathers bristling like porcupine needles, and she felt goosebumps ripple across her arms and legs. Nina shivered, heart sinking in her chest, as she looked down and did not see any sort of clothing on her body. “W-w-awah?!” she shrieked, flaring her wings wide for two seconds before enclosing them around her torso, covering her breasts and pelvis with a wild blush on her face.

Hastily glancing around and spotting nothing else in the white smog, her face took on a beet red tinge as more cool air swept between her legs, sending shivers up her spine. “Last thing I need is to be indecent,” she mumbled, her voice cracking. “Now I need to find my clothes—” she paused upon hearing a twig snapping nearby. “—immediately!” Nina exclaimed, and had at once darted off in a random direction. Keeping her wings closed around her body whilst running had been a tall order to contend with; she almost tripped over her own primary feathers several times attempting to keep her dignity.

Coupled with the smog and trees that seemed to be appearing from it as she fled, it had been nothing short of a miracle that she’d still been running. Yet, there had been something that stopped her right in her tracks, though: someone pouncing her from behind, snatching her from beneath her arms, lifting her feet clear from the ground. She tried flapping her wings to get away, only to shriek in pain as they were grabbed by the joints and a sickening series of snaps filled the air.

“Hey boss, look! A black-winged Wyndian woman!” a voice of masculine nature exclaimed from behind, giddy in tone. Nina began to kick frantically, only to freeze as her ankles were grabbed by two burly men that appeared from the smog, both of whom had sinister grins on their faces.

“Quite the sexy one, too. And feisty,” one of the men hissed, a feral gleam alight in his eyes. The woman’s eyes went wide as the men spread her legs and threw her onto the ground wings-first, and she tossed her head back with another outcry of anguish.

“L-let me go, you brutes!” Nina shrieked in a panicked tone. Her breath caught in her throat as one of the brutes yanked his pants down, exposing quite the monstrosity that was his member. It had barbs pointing backwards lining the entirety of the head and shaft, with a thick knot forming at the base.

“Oh hell, Panthra, you’re gonna take her already?” one of the men mused, laughing.

“Bitch is on the ground with broken wings. Nah, I’m gonna stare at her!” the man who yanked his pants down chortled before pouncing Nina, pinning her to the ground by the shoulders. She felt fur on his hands, as well as pads. Her heart thundered in her chest as she stared at the man’s face; his head had orange and white fur, with black stripes, pointed ears, a triangular nose, and eyes akin to a cat’s.

The instant she felt his phallus ram into her vagina and pull out had been the same instant she jolted awake in the tent screaming. Her wings flared wide, sweat beaded down her face, a non-existent pain tingled between her legs, and her heart crept up her throat with the intent to exit and run away.

Ryu had also awoke in that same moment, looking at her with wide eyes and frayed hair. “Nina, are you alright? he asked, but got no answer from the wide-winged Wyndian. “Nina?” he repeated, putting a hand on her shoulder.

The woman flinched and jerked her head towards him, only to relax as she saw who had touched her. “I... “ Words died in her throat, and her mouth felt dry. “I just had another unpleasant dream,” she answered in a hushed tone.

Ryu gently tightened his grip on her shoulder and nodded. “Must’ve been pretty bad, since your wings are open. Does that happen every time you have a nightmare?” he asked.

“No, unless the dream is very…” Nina paused to swallow thickly, searching for words, “horrid.”

Ryu stiffened, turning his head towards the entrance of the tent as the sounds of men distantly laughing hit his ears. “We should get a move on; leave the tent. We’ll have to call Mina,” he said in a firm, gentle voice. Nina nodded and got up, and she watched as Ryu did likewise. Both got out of the tent and left the scene running, with one moving to clutch his companion's wrist and the other spreading her wings with her feathers violently bristling.

After a few minutes spent tottering about in the forest, the two came across the mouth of a cave that had formed in the forest floor, with a natural roof and an entrance big enough to let a person go inside. Ryu dove in first, dragging Nina by the wrist, and as soon as the two were in they found that it was barely big enough to hide them. They dove for cover, with Nina using her wings to shield them both.

Another few minutes passed in complete silence, and Nina carefully lowered one of her wings to look at the canopy. She found darkness, but the scene wasn't dark for long. A soft orange light crept to the edge of the vertical cave, and she felt Ryu's arm snag her by the neck before it pulled her to him, forcing her to rest on his chest. His free hand rose up and cupped her mouth closed, and he dragged her under the roof before joining her himself without making any noise.

Nina stiffened as Ryu positioned himself over her, mouth still clamped by his hand. She made to push him off, but the thumb of the hand that held her face tenderly rubbed at her cheek, and she relaxed slightly. The two heard a few huffs of air and then a deep growl, followed by a man asking, "You smell something, Panthera?" Immediately, Nina froze again, pupils dilating to pinpricks as a near-silent whimper left her throat.

"... I smell Wyndian and Brood," a deep voice accentuated by a growl answered the person who had asked.

"Brood? B-but hasn't that clan died off or something?" the first man asked, sounding taken aback. "You sure you're not just smelling things, Panthera?"

"No. Brood has a distinct scent…" Panthera began, pausing to growl fiercely. "It smells… of burnt scales—just like a Wyndian reeks of bird feathers." Another pause. "Burn this forest down. Burn it to the ground."

Nina and Ryu's eyes widened simultaneously, and in that moment the latter decided to act. His green eyes took on a crimson hue, and his body began to glow. He wrapped his arms around Nina, relinquishing his hold on her lips, as scales spontaneously grew all over him. He turned white-hot to the touch, and started to both grow in size and change shape. 

The roof broke as Ryu's neck elongated and sharp spines began jutting out, his head shifting to boast a pointed snout lined with teeth. Humongous scaled wings burst from his back, as did a tail from his posterior. His feet and toes changed to wicked claws, and though his hands did likewise, they still cradled the Wyndian who grappled a thumb for dear life. No longer was she with a man; she was with a dragon that towered over the forest and let off a shrill roar as his wings began furiously beating.

Nina looked down, finding no less than three men at Ryu's feet. She couldn't see their features too well, since Ryu wasn't wasting any time in getting airborne and hauling out, but she could hear them distantly screaming—in awe, fright, or anger, she wasn't sure. In moments, Ryu flew away from the woodland, his wings beating madly as he darted over an ocean towards the southeast, still clutching his companion in his now-massive claws.

The dragon caught sight of a mountain jutting up in the distance, and he let off a roar as it came into view. His body began glowing again as Nina looked down and spotted land, screaming in surprise as Ryu abruptly slowed down and then landed with a thud that shook her as well as the earth. She closed her eyes tight as the glow became brighter, feeling her companion shrink back down as the seconds ticked by. Bracing herself for a hurtle down to ground, she tensed up and waited for the inevitable.

Only, the inevitable didn't come after a minute had passed. Hesitantly, she cracked one set of eyelids open, to find herself staring at a human face with blue hair. "Afraid I'd have dropped you mid-transformation?" Ryu asked, frowning.

Nina nodded. She opened her other eye and looked at the sky to find it was a soft grey in color, with bare vestiges of red dotting one end of the expanse. She turned back to Ryu. "C-could you put me down, please?" she asked.

Ryu smiled, and knelt down to let the woman's feet touch the grass. She stood up, and so did he, with both eying the mountain that was still distant to them. Then, they turned their heads to absorb their surroundings, finding they were in an expansive plain. The two made to look north, spotting small structures that, while a good few yards away, was much closer to them than the mountain. "Let's see if that's a town over there. I want to be sure we're in the right place," he said.

With that, both Brood and Wyndian began a slow, languid walk to the structures in the distance, making sure to stay within eyesight of their company.


End file.
